Šrámková selected 17 of her favorite buildings for her exhibition

Prague – Alena Šrámková, one of the most prominent figures in Czech architecture of recent decades, has an exhibition at the Kampa Museum. For this exhibition, commemorating her milestone birthday this year, she selected 17 works that she considers the most important in her oeuvre. The buildings, projects, competition designs, and studies represent not merely a comprehensive and coherent set of plans but primarily drawings and sketches. The exhibition will run until January 12, 2020.

The ninety-year-old Šrámková is known primarily for the realization of the new hall of Prague's Main Train Station and the administrative building of ČKD at Můstek. Through her work and unique personality, she has influenced many followers in architecture. The architect is considered one of the representatives of so-called Czech austerity, as characterized by architectural historian Rostislav Švácha, referring to a group of creators known for their inclination towards minimalist tendencies.

At the exhibition, Šrámková presents what illustrates an architect's work in searching for the right expression and the overall concept of a future building. The drawings, sketched with a steady hand using pencil, pastel, or marker, whose results are not always precise but rather suggestive, indicate the future character.

The drawings are complemented by models created primarily for the presentation of the intended buildings. Photographs of real buildings are presented separately. The exhibited items belong to the Ehl-Koumar Architekti studio (formerly Šrámková Architekti) and the Collection of Architecture of the National Gallery in Prague.

Other works of hers, whether realized or in the form of proposals, include the cultural center in Lužiny, which she collaborated on with Ladislav Lábus, a small tower for a researcher in Košík, the Šerák meteorological station, Hypobanka at Republic Square, a footbridge in Holešovice, and a care service building in Horažďovice.

When she received the Honor from the Czech Chamber of Architects in 2008, she mentioned that she regretted the buildings from the projects that did not materialize, particularly those related to the competition for a bank at Republic Square and a shopping center at Karl’s Square. "What is at Republic Square belongs on a housing estate,” she said. The corner building at Karl’s Square, according to her, lacks generosity.

Recently, her realized works include the new Tyrš Bridge in Přerov and a malt house in Olomouc. Alena Šrámková is also the author of the Faculty of Architecture building at the Czech Technical University in Prague's Dejvice.